Just Like Family
by broken-inside-x
Summary: Santana grants Brittany her one wish and stands by her side as they face the club with some inetersting news.
1. Santana

_**So this is my first Glee fic so I hope its not too bad, let me know? And I obviously don't own Glee otherwise I know who'd have ended up together instead of Finchel :P**_

"So you agree we should let them know? To, you know, make everything better after our awesome defeat at Nationals?"

Santana had, grudgingly, come around to Brittany's idea of the Glee club being some kind of twisted and dysfunctional family. Only now she was being manipulated by the blonde, of all people, into sharing this secret revelation with the rest of the club as no-one had really fully recovered from their crushing defeat. She wasn't sure whether it was the genuine hope in Brittany's eyes or the way she was clutching to the Latina's hands for dear life, but Santana was finding it hard to deny the girl her one wish yet she'd openly deny that should it be mentioned to anyone outside of her and Britt. Unwillingly, she found herself nodding her head, agreeing to divulge her in this one simple act and stand beside her as she announced to the entire club that she had officially claimed them as her family whether they liked it or not. She refused to think about how disgusting the reality of that idea was as they'd all dated each other at one point or another in their school lives, heck even Kurt had made out with Brittany in an attempt to rid himself of the gayness he claimed had plagued him since he'd been brought his first tea set and had sat down to brunch with his favourite group of Dolls.  
>The blonde in question just grinned at her in delight before skipping off towards the choir room, a put-out Santana following in her wake, the pair of them still joined at the hands not that either were complaining of course.<p>

The "Gleeks" had all arranged to meet in the choir room at the end of the day for their final meeting of the school year, so Santana was not surprised to see them all sitting in the places they'd occupied throughout the entire year. Quinn was pulling nervously at the short strands of what was left of her long golden locks whilst Mercedes reassured her that the look suited her. That was, yet another, one of Santana's great idea's, the cutting of hair to rid herself of the post-breakup depression that Quinn had decided to drown herself in. Puck was slouched in his chair next to Zizes, not looking at all bothered by her current fixation on the school's newest wrestling star who had parked himself outside the door to Schuster's choir room as he unloaded his backpack into one of the worst lockers in the school, well that's what you got for transferring into a high school at the end of the year. Tina and Mike were making cute kissy faces in the corner of the room, making Santana feel sick to her stomach at the sappy show of affection. Sam was plucking away at one of the schools horribly tuned guitars, trying to rectify the damage that had already been done to the strings whilst trying to keep up with Kurt who was rambling on about some new designer, whose new range would suit trouty mouth perfectly, forgetting that the blonde wasn't exactly loaded at the moment. Rachel and Finn were almost as sickening at the Asian Duo, sitting there with their hands clasped, like anyone had expected anything different. They were doomed to repeat history and in a few months the club would be hearing painfully, emotive songs that described yet another break up. Not that she was going to tell the brunette that, as much as she disliked the girl she deserved some form of happiness. And as for Artie, well he was staring dumbly at Brittany, a stupid lovesick look plastered across his face as the two stood in front of the room, Brittany clearing her throat loud enough to grab everyone's attention.

"Guys, Santana and I have something we'd like to tell you" Eleven confused faces turned to look at the pair who were now holding pinkies, the trademark of their long friendship. Brittany turned to look at her, the first sign of nervousness showing as she searched her face for the reassurance that Santana would undoubtedly grant her. A slight nod of the head gave her that, her dark hair bouncing around her face. Taking a deep breath she continued with what she'd started. "We've decided you guys are our family. I know we fight and steel each other's boyfriends and girlfriends, and one of us threatens to quit, like, every other week, but… weird stuff like that happens in families right? Family is a place where everyone loves you no matter what, and they accept you for who you are. I know I'm gonna be a bridesmaid at Mike and Tina's wedding. And that I'm gonna be anxiously waiting just like everyone else to see if their babies are Asian, too. When they find an operation to make Artie's legs work again, I'm gonna be there for his first steps" She quoted her earlier speech and whilst Santana waited for the speech to draw to a close she found herself listening to new words trailing after the sentences she'd listened to earlier. "I know that when Sam's family gets back on their feet I'm going to be at their new house warming party and when Kurt and Blaine adopt a child, we'll be at its first birthday party. When Finn finally realizes it'll always be Quinn, both me and Santana will be there, waiting with ice cream because Rachel really doesn't deserve it but it'll be alright because Puck'll save the day and we'll be there when she finally see's what was always right in front of her. And when Lauren decides the new guy is her perfect match both in and out of the ring we'll be there at their first fight and when Mercedes decides to tell us about her and Sam, I know I'll be cheering. We love you guys, we love everyone in Glee club and we get to spend another year with you guys so losing wasn't really all that bad." She flashed them one of her megawatt smiles as she looked them all in the eyes. Eleven pairs of eyes, staring at her blankly, wondering what on earth she was on about.

Santana could hardly believe her ears as Brittany declared that Finn would dump Rachel, thoughts she had herself only a few moments ago but to declare them in front of the club only a few hours after Finchel had restarted surely insane, but this was Brittany, what had she expected. But Zizes dumping Puck? Sam and Mercedes? Rachel and Puck? Adoption? That was not going to go down well with the club and as Finn shot Quinn a curious look which Rachel quickly clocked she could tell, hell was about to break loose.


	2. Santana2

"A baby? You think Blaine and I will have babies?" Kurt was the first to speak up after Brittany's little outburst and Santana wasn't sure whether the grin plastered across his baby face was an awkward "be-nice-its-just-one-of-Brittany's-moments" one or one of genuine joy but by the way his eyes had lit up at the prospect she'd guess it was the latter.  
>"Well…Yeah. And 'll be one of its 8 Godmothers" The blonde quipped. A quick glance around the room left Santana confused.<p>

"Britt, there're only 7 girls in Glee" She whispered subtly.

"7 Godmothers" she grinned at the room, already having forgotten that she'd made a mistake in simple counting. "You guys would make awesome Dads. Baby Kurt will be awesomely dressed too" she rattled on, oblivious to the fact that there were tears slowly trailing their way down Kurt's cheeks as he beamed at her obvious belief that he and Blaine would have a future together.

The fact that Finn was still gaping at Quinn had not been lost on Santana, nor on Rachel who was still staring hopelessly at the interaction. She kind of felt bad for the midget.

"Oi, Finnessa. You could at least wait till you're girlfriends left your side before start going all stalker on Q." Apparently Finn's staring hadn't gone unnoticed by Puck either; maybe Britt knew what she was yapping on about after all. Rachel's cheeks had flushed slightly, her eyes dropping from her boyfriend and lowering to the ground for a few, antagonizing slow, minutes before she snapped her head up to stare at Puck.

"Thank you Noah but I am capable of sticking up for myself"

"No need to bite my head of Berry, was just tryin' to help."

Well no-one had expected that from the diva but she'd gotten what she'd wanted and Finn had lowered his eyes from Quinn and was now staring at his shoes as if they'd suddenly become the most interesting thing in the room. Puck had gone from glaring at Finn to glaring at Mike who had visibly shrunk back in his seat and was vehemently shaking his head in a "no" sign, which in her mind made no sense.

"I told you so Berry, even Brittany can see it. It will always be me and Finn." Quinn smirked at her, obviously enjoying the fact that Brittany had, unknowingly, backed her argument but if Blondie thought she could use Britt that way then she was in for a shock. "You need to accept the fact that you don't belong here" Her words dripped with venom and Kurt had gone from tearing up to shooting her death glares. Something strange had happened in New York and Hummel and Berry had gone from hating each other to being best friends. Finn was still staring at his shoes, ignoring the fact that his ex was tearing the shit out of his current girlfriend. Burying his head in the sand, something the footballer had always been good at.

"Leave her alone Quinn" Since when had Chang and Berry been close?

"Oh now you wanna do the right thing Chang? Couldn't have thought of that when you were opening your mouth to Britt?" And suddenly Puck was on his feet yelling all sorts at the dancing Asian, none of which made any sense as she couldn't remember having heard anything about Mike gossiping about Puck, she had thought the two were mates. Or at least as matey as Puck would get to anyone other than a cougar he had yet to fuck. The heads of the club swivelled between the two, and Santana was reminded of a tennis match in which the audience followed the ball across the court. Lauren was still drooling after the new guy who had yet to move away from his shitty locker and Brittany seemed like she was trying to keep up with the speed the conversation was moving at. Her brow was furrowed in confusion and she couldn't help but feel sorry for her best friend who'd expected her speech to make them all happy, as it had done Kurt. No-one had seemed to notice that Rachel had slipped out of the room, her head down and her hands wiping furiously at her cheeks. Crying no doubt. Finn still hadn't looked at her since Brittney had made her speech and Quinn was still rambling on about how she was only doing the girl a favour by making her see that she wasn't wanted and that she didn't belong here.

She hadn't noticed when but suddenly Sam and Mercedes were sitting next to each other, ignoring the raised voices around them and the tension that had filled the room. Their heads were bent close together and they seemed to be having a very private conversation about something serious by the look on trouty mouths face. And then Brittany was holding her hand and she'd forgotten about the yelling or the missing diva. She squeezed her friend's hand, unable to string a sentence together that would convey her support. After all she'd only tried to do good, it wasn't her fault that glee was more fucked up than anyone had ever realised.


	3. Rachel

She could still hear Mike trying to defend himself from the auditorium where she was sitting on the front of the stage, her legs swinging over the edge but not reaching the ground, he really had a set of lungs on him whether he used them to sing or not, he was just lucky that school had finished for the summer and that the place was like a ghost town and would be until their return in 2 months. She wasn't sure exactly why he and Noah were arguing but she had no doubt that Kurt would fill her in on all of the details on her return to the choir room; he was a glutton for gossip.

She hadn't meant to leave the room like that; it wasn't like she'd planned it. She didn't even do her traditional diva storm out, just quietly slipped out the nearest door. She just needed space to think. She wasn't stupid; she could see the way he looked at her. His gaze lingering a little longer than acceptable given his current relationship status. It had only been half an hour and she was already starting to doubt how long he'd be able to keep away from the beautiful blonde that happened to be his ex several times over. That fact alone was enough to vacuum all of the air from the room, leaving her with a feeling of suffocation. She didn't think she could handle another break up with Finn, the stares as she walked through the halls, the extra slushies' to make up for the times that Finn had defended her and stopped the football team from coating her in the sticky syrup, the whispers as Finn and Quinn got back together and began their campaigning for Prom King and Queen, playing the happy couple that would no doubt grow old together with several kids and grandchildren in the suburbs of Lima. She knew she was strong but she wasn't invincible like so many people seemed to think. Brittany had basically just said aloud what everyone else had been thinking, she would lose him again to the perfectly sculpted cheekbones and short tousled waves of Quinn Fabray. She didn't stand a chance and even Brittany knew it.

"Rach?" She'd been so focused on maintaining a poker face that she hadn't heard the door of the auditorium slam shut as Finn attempted to make a subtle entrance into the room, a sheepish look on his face. "Why d'ya leave?"

He had to be kidding; did he honestly think she wouldn't notice the lingering stares and the dreamy look on his face? Heck, even Noah had noticed.

"Because Finn, I'm not going to play second fiddle to Quinn again. Not this time." The tears that had been threatening to spill over since her silent departure from the choir room finally broke free, trailing down her cheeks as she stubbornly tried to hold them back, hoping that if she turned her face away from Finn he'd be none the wiser about his death grip on her heart.

"You're not! You know what Brittany's like, she hasn't a clue what she's on about most of the time! Don't get me wrong, she's a sweet girl but she's too dopey to be basing a relationship on Rachel!"  
>He sounded angry now and all of a sudden she could feel the guilt eating away at her anger, her resolution failing and her indignance fading until she turned towards him, the word sorry slipping from between her lips before she could rein it in. She still couldn't help but feel that he was being unfair to poor Brittany however. She'd only said what everyone else had been too scared to say aloud, she'd been trying to do something good for the team in making them see that they were a family and Rachel agreed with her yet here Finn was telling her that Brittany was talking rubbish.<p>

"So you're saying that she's lying?" She questioned, not fully sure that she wanted to hear the answer or whether she'd believe it. "You've done it before, gone running back to Quinn when things between us became difficult or uncertain. When the pressure to be popular became too much to resist, you used the excuse of my relations with Noah to dump me, under the pretence that I had cheated even though you then went on to let Quinn cheat on Sam with you which is hardly inexcusable Finn, not to mention hypocritical." She was breathing heavily now, her earlier tears dried as she stood to shout at him, ignoring the height advantage he had in this fight.

"Not gonna happen Rach. It's you and me, I promise."

He looked so sincere that she couldn't help but believe him; maybe this time would be different. They'd both grown up a lot this year so maybe they had a better chance at surviving senior year together and when the end of High School came they'd be able to apart on good terms because they'd had their time because Finn sure as hell wouldn't follow her to New York. She gave him a slight nod, her dark hair falling over her face, showing him that he'd managed to make her believe him before standing on her tip toes to give him a small kiss which he immediately tried to deepen before she pushed him back slightly, the excuse of getting back to Glee on the tip of her tongue. Maybe this time would be different, they could actually be happy she thought, as he intertwined their hands and they headed out of the auditorium and back into the throes of the fight the fight that was still happening in the choir room.

It took Finn 2 months to break her heart.

**Ok, so I'm really really sorry that this chapter was all Finchel but it had to happen before the next chapter so please forgive me ? (: Oh yeah and let me know how bad it was? Thank you guys!**


	4. Mike

_**Here you go guys, hope this one's ok and thank you so much for all of the reviews, they make me stupidly happy (: Enjoy!**_

"I heard that his mom didn't agree with the whole Jewish thing" Tina whispered excitedly to Mercedes who in turn shook her head dramatically, explaining that she'd heard that he had given in to being seduced by both Brittany and Santana at same time. It was only the second day of the new school year and the gossip about Rachel had already spread throughout the school like some strange infectious disease. Mike watched in disgust as his girlfriend and Mercedes continued to speculate about what had been the cause of the breakup, neither of them showing Rachel, who'd shown up to the first Glee meeting of the year yesterday with a fake smile plastered on her face and her eyes puffy from all they crying she'd done since the breakup which had happened that lunch time, any sympathy. Finn had shown up 10 minutes late to Glee looking dazed and baffled but that was nothing unusual with him.

"I'd rather gouge my eyes out with a fork than try and seduce cream-puff-nipples again. For once, I didn't do anything" Santana exclaimed from where she was sitting in the corner of the room with Brittany, her phone in one hand and her other linked with Brittany's by their pinkies.

"I did" Brittany added, unaware of the fact that she had just admitted to trying to seduce someone else's boyfriend and was now the suspected reason of said boyfriend dumping Rachel.

"Ladies, fear not. I come with the truth!" Kurt squealed, interrupting them all with his flamboyant entrance, making Mike aware that he seemed to be the only guy in the room yet he had no idea where the other lads were. He straightened up in his chair, his arm still slung around the back of Tina's chair although he was still annoyed at the way she had so disrespectfully gossiped about one of her friends, one of _his_ friends. "As Finn's new brother I can officially reveal to you on the most truthful of grounds that she dumped him!" A collective gasp was heard from the few Glee members that were in the room. Mike himself was dumbfounded, he'd never considered that Rach could have dumped Finn and it seemed no-one else had either, she'd been avoiding all of the football players and cheerio's since the breakup, not that any of them knew why and he knew that Puck was definitely feeling the sting of it.

"Man hands dumped him?" Santana questions, disbelief laced through her voice. "You sure about that Kurt?" Kurt only nodded excitedly in response to her obvious mistrust in his gossiping talents and Mike once again found himself annoyed at the fact that none of them had wondered whether Rach was actually ok or not which was only heightened by Kurt's next revelation.

"She walked into the auditorium at lunch yesterday only to find him passionately locking lips with the one and only Quinn Fabray! I can also reveal that this wasn't the first time this summer that they'd been together apparently! And that the couple are now in fact back together as McKinley's resident power couple."

Immediately they all began talking again, swapping ideas on what would make Finn cheat on the girl he'd claimed to love. Santana stuck by a claim that she must have refused to sleep with him while Brittany argued that it wasn't her fault she didn't like cream puffs, earning her a confused stare off of all of them. Mercedes had the most logical idea; it was because Quinn was popular. Finn was a sucker for his reputation and he knew being with Rachel would only destroy it even more than being in Glee itself had. Although Kurt put up a point that if that was the case why did he do it on the down-low. Mike opened his mouth to argue before reconsidering and jumping out of his seat and heading out the door, ignoring the baffled looks from his friends and determined to find the tiny diva and check she was ok.

He made it as far as the end of corridor outside of the choir room before he ran into a large group of students who had gathered in a ring around Noah Puckerman who happened to have David Karofsky, resident bully, pinned against the lockers by his neck. Doing a double take, he glanced around the hall, trying to piece together the events. He could see Jacob Ben-Israel taping the whole thing on his camera so no doubt he'd be able to see it up on the school website, Letterman's jackets littered the corridor thought most of guys were turning to walk away rather than to stick up for a fellow player, mind you both Puck and Karofsky were football players. Then he spotted Rachel, her cheeks flushed and her hands on Pucks arm as she tried to talk him out of doing whatever he had planned, he could see that she had tear tracks staining her cheeks and her books had been dropping into a open locker, one which he assumed must be hers and it was almost like a light bulb went off in his head. Puck was doing this to defend her, Karofsky had obviously taken her breakup with Finn to mean that she was once again available to torment and whereas this time last week Finn would have stepped up to defend her, Puck was now filling in for him.

"Listen here Karofsky. Ever touch or speak to her again and I'll rearrange your fucking face. Got me?" Puck threatened him, tightening his grip on his throat to re-enforce his message, although he had yet to let the bigger guy go.

"Noah, stop it. You're hurting him." Rachel pleaded quietly and no-one around her seemed to hear apart from Puck, Karofsky and Mike who'd managed to squeeze his way through the crowd to stand by her side and also to help Puck out of he needed it although it looked like he had it covered. Karofsky's eyes glinted with a chuckle as he heard the use of Puck's first name, obviously reading into it more than necessary.

"And what about him hurting you Berry? He wouldn't think twice about it. And it won't be happening again. Will it?" Once again, he emphasised his threat with a squeeze of the guy's throat, his face turning a slight shade of purple now and he was struggling to breathe. The sound of a teachers heels clicking down the hall and towards them meant that the group of students that had gathered to watch the players pitched against each other were now disbanding and Mike could glimpse Ms Pilsbury and Coach Tenaka making their way speedily towards them.

"Puck, the guys not worth going back to juvie for. Come on; let's get out of here before you get your ass thrown back inside a cell." Puck had always been a very aggressive guy so when Mikes arm reached out to pull him away from his latest victim he was unsure whether his friend would recognise it as help or as a betrayal but by the way that Puck had loosened his grip of the football players throat, leaving him to slide down the locker to land unceremoniously on the floor with his head between his knees and gasping for breath, he guessed it was the latter. He watched in amusement as Puck turned to face Rachel who was still staring at him worriedly, obviously not used to seeing the more violent side of "Noah", she looked confused too though. Puck had just willingly gone up against one of his own team mates and all because he'd managed to upset Rachel, how he'd done that Mike was determined to find out once Puck decided it was safe to take his eyes of Rachel, and the guy had wondered how Brittany had found out about his fondness for the diva without Mike having spilled his secret? Definitely not worth the fight they'd had over it he decided.

Rachel surprised them all; suddenly looking away from both him and Puck before turning sharply and heading away from the choir room and out into the school parking lot without so much of a warning or a goodbye but neither of the guys had missed the hurt look in her eyes before she'd turned and rushed out of the building.

"Finn cheated." That's all Mike had to say before Puck put the pieces together and uttered Quinn's name, he clapped his hand on Puck's shoulder before the pair of them turned back in the direction of the choir room, the tension seemed to have seeped out of the guys body once Rachel had scrambled from the hall and Mike couldn't help but chuckle as they went "You're in over your head mate when it comes to Rach, you know."


	5. Rachel2

**Sorry about the delay guys, I thought I'd be clever and break my laptop (:**

She'd been told of the awkwardness that had become glee club by Kurt who'd had no qualms about rambling on about how Finn and Quinn had sat together, hands clasped on his lap, whilst they tried to ignore the glares they'd been getting from several different members of the club, Kurt being one of those he'd been quick to add. She'd expected the reports of the tension in the air being thick and heavy, she could feel it herself as she walked into Glee the next day, her head held high despite the fact that she'd been hearing rumours all day about how she'd been a bad girlfriend from the beginning and how she deserved this for stealing him from his beloved Quinn. It almost seemed that they'd forgotten about baby gate and how she'd had his best friend's baby but not before trying to pass it off as his.  
>She was surprisingly one of the last to arrive to Glee club, with only Tina, Artie and Lauren still left to turn up. She'd been in the room only 2 minutes and already the tension was suffocating her, the fact that both Finn and Quinn were sitting in the back row, hands clasped as Kurt had explained. Staring at her, Finn with his pathetic attempt at an apology plastered across his face and Quinn with her typical smirk at finally having won. Seems she'd had more faith in Brittany's predictions than she'd ever had in the blonde before.<p>

Brittany had been the first person to say how sorry she was when news of the break-up had spread throughout the halls of the school, aided by the blog that Jacob Ben-Israel ran to her dismay. She'd walked up looking solemn with a grinning Santana in tow, muttering about how sorry she was that she'd predicted this and that she wouldn't say "I told you so" even though she was totally right and would she like some ice-cream. Santana had just smirked at her and told her that Puck was good in bed. Rachel had flushed bright red at the comment before thanking them and heading towards the auditorium for some quality therapy with Barbra Streisand.  
>The two were now sitting on the back row, next to Finn and Quinn although Brittany was doing all in her power to avoid even glancing in their direction which touched Rachel in a strange way that only Brittany could cause. Their pinkies were intertwined, as usual, whilst Santana tried to explain why the stork wouldn't bring Lord Tubbington a baby as Noah played Devil's advocate and did all he could to irritate Santana to the extent where her hand flew out of its own accord and smacked him in the chest, causing him to chuckle quietly to himself before feigning pain to make her feel slightly better about her lack of effect on his temple of a body. Mercedes was sitting next to Kurt in the front row, gossiping no doubt, as she messed with the new weave she'd been boasting about for the last few days, although it did look fairly good on her Rachel had to admit. Kurt looked uninterested, probably having heard this story a million times as he turned to flash her a small encouraging smile before murmuring an "I understand" in Mercedes direction, playing the part of an excellent listener.<p>

Taking a deep breath like her therapist had taught her, she made her way towards a chair in the middle row, refusing to be dismayed by the heavily made up eyes of Quinn Fabray that followed her every move, the bright grin that Mike sent her only heightened the feeling that maybe she didn't need Finn after all, which is why, only a few seconds later, she landed herself noiselessly in one of the plastic chairs next to Mike with a smile of her own plastered across her face, the fact that she was using years of training and her impeccable acting skills wouldn't take away from the achievement at having faced him properly for the first time since his rambling attempt at an apology after she had caught him attached to Quinn by the lips in the choir room.

"So Rach, how's it feel to be rebellious and sit in the middle row?" Mike joked as her usual seat in the middle of the front row remained empty.

"Liberating Mike, truly liberating" she smiled back with an ease she wouldn't have though possible with him seeing as he was, first and foremost, Finns friend and teammate.

"Wow Mike, could you have jumped on the rebound train any faster?" Quinn's usually delicate voice was laced with spite and all of a sudden Rachel could feel her act falling apart, for the first time ever she couldn't keep up the façade. Who was she kidding; she couldn't handle this, not this time. She'd thought she might eventually grow to believe in her pretence but everyone else could see through it. She wiped furiously at her cheek as her walls came tumbling down and a tear escaped the barriers she'd built, almost annoyed at her body for betraying her.

"Back off Quinn. Berry did fuck all to you." Noah's voice broke the silence that had enveloped the room as he barked at Quinn, surprising the entire room at the anger they could hear there. "Shcue asks tell him Berry's sick. I'm taking her home." He added in Santana's direction, she just need in reply and before she could venomously protest at being treated like a 17th century lady and lecture him on how he'd just set the women's movement back about 300 hundred years she was pulled from her seat next to Mike who looked like he was trying to stop the grin from spreading across his face as he watched Noah pull her of the room, his strong hand having moved to the bottom of her back as he guided her out like she hadn't just walked through the same door only 5 minutes ago.

"Noah, what on earth are you doing?" she shrieked once he'd slammed the door behind them, her everlasting source of tears had begun to dwindle and in an act completely opposite of her crying she swiped at the hand on her lower back, digging her heels in as he led them to the schools entrance.

"What am I doing? What are you doing? Crying in Glee club and letting Quinn get to you! You're worth more than her snide remarks Berry."  
>She couldn't help the small smile that passed her lips, that was the longest Noah had gone without some sort of crude remark or vulgar suggestion. He gave her little time to comment on the fact though as he'd already propelled her towards his truck which was parked outside the school.<p>

"Where are we going Noah?"

"For some time out Berry and keep you're midget hands away from my radio!"


	6. Puck

He tried to forget the eyes that had followed them out of the choir room. The smirk on Santana's face didn't mean that she knew what was going on; she wasn't a mind reader no matter what she liked to think therefore that smirk could have had several causes. Maybe she thought he was living up to his sex God reputation, it didn't matter that he had way too much respect for Berry to follow through on any of his innuendos. And the small smile on Brittany's face didn't necessarily mean that she'd been right before the summer, it just meant that they were friends and Quinn getting all up in her face and making her cry wasn't cool with him. Baby momma or not that shit just wasn't kosher. And Mike, well Mike was always right in that freaky ninja way of his but that still didn't mean that he knew what was running through his head, fuck he didn't even know what he was thinking half of the time, dragging Berry out of school proved that fact although he tried not to dwell on the fact that his right hand man was a ninja in hiding.

"Noah, I think we should return to school right this instant! I'm aware of the fact that you spend your fourth period in the nurse's office on a regular basis however I have a perfect class attendance and my absence will not go unnoticed by my math teacher! Noah! Are you even listening to me?" She shrieked at him.

"Chill Berry, I got you covered. San's gonna tell Shcue that you're not feeling great. You'd be able to remember that if your crazy ass hadn't broken down in the middle of the choir room" he reminded her as painlessly as he could while still trying to be badass before holding out a grape slushy to her. He'd parked up outside of the Seven-Eleven before leaving her sitting in his truck and heading inside but not before turning round to check she'd stayed put and had watched as she wiped the remainder of her never ending tears from her cheeks, she'd silently cried the whole time thinking that he wouldn't notice that she'd gone longer than 2 minutes without berating him for his truanting. He'd returned to find her standing next to the front of his truck with a defiant look in her eyes, crazy chick couldn't do as she was told for 5 minutes, and he'd been too pleased, after taking her defiance as a sign of the return of the old Rachel Berry, that he hadn't listened to the tirade of words coming from her mouth. He hopped up on the hood of his truck, after balancing his own slushy, and leaned back on the windshield before continuing "Don't let Q get to you. Her and Finnessa are destined to a life trapped inside the state lines of Ohio. There ain't no way he's getting out of Lima and there ain't no way she's going without him.

She gaped at him in surprise, he knew he was a bit of a jerk sometimes but he did have a heart and her lack of faith just made it all the more fun to watch as she attempted to jump up beside him, threatening to spill the two slushy's that were balanced precariously. He finally gave up ignoring her, jumping down to lift her up, his hands lingering a little longer on her tiny waist than needed, not that she noticed, before re-joining her. She seemed to have regained her composure again in the two minutes it had taken him to help her, her mouth firmly shut and her eyes trying to hide the surprise she so obviously felt at his attempt to make her feel better.

"We really should get back Noah" She whispered, choosing to ignore his sudden change of heart.

"We will eventually Berry" he smirked nonchalantly at her, taking a gulp of his slushy as he relaxed against his truck, the metal behind his back providing a brilliant cooling aid against the sun that had begun to shine, even through the light material of his grey shirt could he feel the smooth metal and its steely cold. "Just relax for a bit"  
>To his surprise she hesitantly lent back, still biting her lip in uncertainty as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes with the hand that wasn't still clutching at the grape slushy. Silence enveloped them for a few minutes before he could no longer resist the urge he'd had since the day before. "So, how'd you catch them?"<br>He was sorry he'd asked the second her saw the tension that had begun to seep out of her shoulders return as she sat up straight. He hadn't meant to upset her, he was just curious; he wanted to know how bad the damage was. He didn't miss the sight of the tears that had sprung to her eyes before she turned her face away from him, her hair falling in a dark curtain around her face. "Shit, don't cry. Just don't answer the question, forget I ever asked"

"You shouldn't curse like that Noah" she sniffled, still not looking back at him. Only she could hold up her fucking morals while having her heart broken. Yet again the silence began to swallow the conversation, leaving him struggling to find something to throw out there to save it, giving them something to brush away the remains of that awkward question. "Karofsky said he was looking for me and that…I'd find him in the auditorium" He sat up straighter at the mention of the Neanderthals name, mentally swearing to do the world a favour and permentanly damage his chances at ever having children. She was staring dejectedly at her slushy, having still not drunk much of it. "Him and Quinn were there, they were just…he was never that…passionate, when he was with me…y'know? They were just so different to us. As it happens that hadn't been the only time they'd been…involved…in a more than platonic kind of way during our summer together as she so happily informed me. I should have known really. The looks he gave her whilst Brittany made what I thought to be harmless predictions, I should have known then but I… I trusted him, too much maybe, he promised me…he swore that he'd always be there and I trusted him…I was so stupid to believe that he could actually like someone like me. It'll always be Quinn." She took a deep breath and he thought that maybe this had been the first time she'd said all that out loud to herself, that maybe his thoughtless curiosity had helped her, after all that had been all he'd wanted to do when he'd dragged her out of the school doors. "I won't be repeating that mistake again" she whispered, almost inaudibly, to herself but he caught the words as they hung in the air between them.

She jumped off his truck, fidgeting with the hem of her ridiculously short pink skirt that he'd decided she wore purely to torment him, before turning to face him, that fire burning in her eyes again as she went from the vulnerable teenage girl with a broken heart to the tiny diva that he knew she was naturally. Vulnerability and emotion didn't come as naturally to her as she liked to believe he reckoned, just because she cried during every semi-emotional song didn't mean that she could handle her own emotions especially when they were anything other than anger and the happiness she felt on stage. "I demand you take me back to school right this instant Noah, I appreciate the sentiment however I don't appreciate being forcibly kept away from the studies that will, inevitably, ensure my ticket out of this one horse town and indirectly away from the painful memory that is my romance with Finn. I'm fairly certain that most colleges will look down on the accusation of kidnap as it is illegal in all US states"

He'd been standing, with his hand in the back pocket of his jeans, his keys clasped between his fingers, when she finished her rant. He was too shocked at the fact that she believed he'd even be able to consider going to a college to tell her that she sounded like she'd swallowed the dictionary.

"You're bat shit crazy, you know that right?"

**Thank you guys for all the reveiews and the author alerts and story alerts, you all kind of make my day. Actually I lie, you may have made my week better (: Hope you liked it (:**


	7. Mike2

He'd just finished persuading Tina that although Rachel was a lovely girl and they had indeed become closer there was nothing going on between them as Quinn had suggested. Kurt had made it half an hour into Glee rehearsal before he'd given up trying to reign in his automatic response to gossip like an old lady, shooting Mike an apologetic smile before going on to inform anyone who had missed the beginning of rehearsal what had happened.

2 minutes in and Tina had slapped him, the noise resounding around the room, silencing Kurt and killing the millions of questions that were being fired at him in curiosity. She'd promptly stormed out in a typical diva fashion which had unsurprisingly reminded him of Rach before he mentally scolded himself and chased her out into the halls where he found her leaning against her locker, her face hidden by the metal as she tried to remove every part of their relationship from within. He spent the rest of that period putting the shit he'd given to her, like his football jersey, back into her locker and explaining the situation between Rachel and Puck, and if Puck even thought about getting angry with him for spilling his secret he'd just have to remind him that he'd nearly sabotaged the best damn thing is his life because he couldn't man up and ask the girl out, fuck, he couldn't even be nice to her, instead choosing to tease and taunt her in front of anyone who would listen.

He had about 5 minutes before 4th period began and he was due in maths, Tina had just left for the class, telling him she had to find Mercedes to assure her that her relationship was intact before she came after him in some strange kind of female pact to protect her friends from jackasses like him. He'd let her go with a promise to meet her in class and was burrowing through the mess in his locker looking for his textbook when he saw the pair of them out of the corner of his eye, turning his head to watch as they walked down the hallway, his arm slung casually over her shoulders while she sipped at what looked like a slushy, grape no doubt, she was a sucker for that shit, peering at him through long lashes as he attempted to make her smile with some lame joke.

Such an unusual and unexpected sight that he forgot about the English book he had clutched in his hand, almost dropping it on his foot as his body went into shock at the normality of the situation. Hiding his staring behind the metal door of his locker he watched as Puck walker her to her own locker, down the hall from his meaning that his hiding place was still intact, making some remark about seeing her in class before heading in the direction of the nurses office which was where he would spend the rest of 4th period as usual, at this she turned her full, megawatt smile against him before he turned to walk off again. Hold on, maths? Puck was intending to show his face in maths? Mike wasn't sure whether the teacher would survive the shock, or if he'd even recognise Puck who had yet to turn up to a maths class this year. That's if Puck turned up at all of course, it had been at least 3 years since Puck had attended a maths class, each year choosing to spend that hour in the nurses office.

Rachel was absorbed in organising her locker, trying to balance her unfinished slushy inside it whilst trying to find what he assumed to be her math book. Turns out that Mike hadn't been the only one watching the interaction between the schools resident badass and queen of gleeks. Puck had made it only a few short feet before he had to shove Azimo out of his way, muttering what looked to be some kind of threat before stalking off. Only seconds later Mike found himself slamming his locker shut without even bothering to grab his own textbook, he could just share Tina's, and making his way over to Rachel's locker, there was no way he was letting her walk to class with Karofsky's main man stalking the halls like some kind of idiotic sidekick.

"Sup Rach"

"I hope you wouldn't jump in his grave this Mike" she joked, turning to face him with a smirk plastered across her pretty little face. A smirk! A full blown, evil smirk. "You should really try to hide your staring too, you know it'll annoy Noah to the extent where he'll feel the need to threaten you with some sort of violence while no doubt making some crude remark about the female race and your inability to relate to them"

"Shit, my ninja skills failed me?" he chuckled lightly at her questioning glance, forgetting that she was against racial stereotypes. "I was so damn sure I had that shit down. Never mind. Where'd you and Puckerman vanish to anyways ey Rach?" He questioned, his own smirk turned on her as he slung his arm over her shoulders where Pucks had been only minutes beforehand as she turned away from her locker and headed to their shared maths class.

"We got slushy's", they taste a lot nicer when I'm not wearing it!" she grinned up at him like an excited child; it hadn't occurred to him that she'd never brought a slushy purely to drink it. It was right there that he vowed to help Puck in his mission to protect the petit girl he had tucked under his arm, an arm he'd chew off himself if he ever let Karofsky or one of his minions within spitting distance of her.

"Yeah well, you won't be wearing them from now on Rach."

She'd bowed her head and was refusing to look him instead choosing to focus on the classroom they'd just entered, her eyes darting around the room like she was looking for someone or just avoiding him. It was almost like she didn't believe him. He knew that this friendship was a little strange but fuck, he wasn't going to leave her out there to defend herself whether she lectured him on women's rights and equality or not.

"I got your back Rach"he whispered in her ear before manoeuvring his way towards his seat next to Tina, who was looking very smug at the fact that she was the only person, other than Mike, to know what was truly going on. The jealous girlfriend persona had disappeared completely and she offered a small smile up to Rachel who took her seat at the desk next to theirs.

Their teacher was up at the front of the class, scribbling some form of equation on the board, a faint waft of cigarette smoke and air freshener drifted lazily in the air although it wasn't strong enough to mask the smell of the whiskey they knew he'd been taking large gulps of throughout the day and had hidden in his bottom draw. The guy couldn't make it through an hour filled with teenagers without a drink; fuck knows what he was doing teaching in a high school. Mike was still questioning the teacher's abilities and pretending to listen to Tina ramble on about what song she was going to do for Glee this week when it happened.

At 2:05pm on Wednesday the 9th of November 2011, Noah Puckerman sauntered into the maths class he'd been stubbornly avoiding for the last 3 years of his life, mouthing an "I told you so" in Rachel's direction before landing himself in a seat at the back of the room where he proceeded to tune out not only the teacher but all of the stage whispers and pointed stares too. Mike could barely register what had happened in his mind; neither could Tina if her hanging mouth was anything to go by. Rachel however was just staring at the door he'd just appeared through and muttered a single word, a word none of them would ever have expected to leave the lips of Rachel Berry.

"Shit"

**So here it is guys, the latest chapter although I'm not really sure where I'm going with this one anymore :D Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favourited, if it wasn't for you guys this chapter would have taken a lot longer to write **** thankyouuuuu x**


	8. Rachel3

"Rach? Rachel? Class is over!" Mike was stood in front of her as she snapped out of her day dream, waving his hand in front of her face as she stared down at the books that she had spread over her desk at the beginning of class, intent on learning. She could only vaguely remember the teacher rambling on about Pie, or maybe it was Pythagoras? Either way she hadn't meant to spend the entire class in a daze and now she was left with a maths textbook that hadn't been opened, notes that hadn't been made and an urgent need to get out of there as fast as she could, she could borrow Tina's notes tomorrow. She jumped up from her seat, making Mike jump slightly in his place in front of her desk, his arm now slung over Tina's shoulders with hers wound round his waist. "Rach, you ok?"

"Yep"

She tried to ignore the squeak in her voice and the eyebrow that Mike rose at her answer, letting her know that her lying skills needed some work on, as she grabbed her books and legged it from the room, not even bothering to look towards the back where Noah had been slouched in his chair with an amused smirk gracing his face. How could she have been so stupid to have made a bet like that with him? Of course he was going to show up to a class that no-one expected him to do anything in! It was maths for crying out loud, he hadn't been in 3 years and she'd honestly thought that the fear of doing actual maths work would scare him off? Oh no, he'd sat at the back of the class, with his iPod turned up full blast, ignoring a teacher that couldn't remember his name, never mind actually acknowledge his presence with an equation to answer! She refused to let him bribe her into this though, picking up her walking pace, there was no way he'd remember about this tomorrow and she didn't plan on hanging around long enough for him to catch her tonight.

She managed to make it to her locker without running into anyone who'd stop her to talk, hastily pulling the door open to ditch her maths book and grab anything she'd need for tonight's homework before slamming it shut just as hastily and ducking her head as she caught sight of Finn leaning up against Quinn's locker just down the hall. The small smile on his face as he gazed down at Quinn, who was busy putting books back into her locker before turning and taking his hand as they made their way out of school, had her heartstrings twisting in knots and, like always, the fact that he'd never so much as even glanced at her that way made her feel like crying.

She didn't look up again until she was out in the parking lot, her car in view as she swapped her bag over to the other shoulder, her hand thrust into her pocket as she searched for her keys but only grasping the wool of her coat. She dumped her bag on the ground next to the driver's door as she rested on her heels so she could search in there, maybe she'd just forgotten she'd put them in there, easy mistake to make right? Only as much as she grappled around she couldn't find them, her fingers never coming into contact with the shiny metal Empire State Building key ring that her Daddies had brought her as a child. She couldn't have lost her car keys, she was always so careful with where she left them!

"Looking for these?"

She turned, form her place still kneeling on the ground, to stare up at Noah who was dangling her car keys from the tips of his fingers, that arrogant smirk plastered all over his face.

"Why yes Noah, I was indeed looking for the keys you so clearly stole from my person!" she replied dryly as she attempted to keep the anger bubbling under the surface under control, it was no good getting annoyed at him for ruining the plan to avoid him.

"Didn't steal them, just thought I'd look after them so's you couldn't hightail it out of here like you planned to do without paying up. I showed up to maths which means we've got a date at 7/11"

"No!" she shrieked, mortified by the idea of going through with their bet "I am not slushying Quinn!" She reached to grab her keys; her bag abandoned on the floor, only for him to pull them out of her reach, the Empire State dangling just above her head. Damn her height disadvantage. "Noah, give me my keys back! Nothing you can do or say is going to persuade me into going through with this crazy idea of yours!"

"You agreed to it Berry. I said I'd show for Maths if you agreed to get revenge on Q so don't sound so shocked now that you've got to follow through on your promises" He grinned down at her, almost like he knew she'd give in if just to get her keys back. "She deserves it anyway or do I have to remind you that she's made it her personal mission to reduce you to tears on a daily basis and it's not like Finnessa's gonna stick up for you anytime soon"

"I am well aware of Finn and Quinn's personal relationship and her need to upset me thank you very much Noah but that is no reason for me to stoop to her level and anyway I didn't actually believe that you'd show up to class! You've spent the last 3 years napping in the nurses office during maths so I had no reason to believe you'd change the habit"

"How'd you know I spent it in the nurse's office? Been checking up on me Berry?" He took a step closer to her, still smirking and still holding her keys out of her reach. "If you wanted to spend time with the Puckerone you could have just asked" He took another step towards her as she took one back, tripping over the strap of her bag before leaning heavily against her car. She could feel his breath of her face now, only a thin strip of air separating their bodies as he leaned close to her ear, his eyes still staring at her, more intense than they had been only minutes ago "Well Rach?"

"Fine" She took his second of confusion to duck under the arm that had come to lean on her car, next to her head, almost boxing her in. "I'll slushy Quinn." He took several steps back from her, the confusion fading to hurt before, once again, he smirked at her before tossing her keys in her direction.

"Guess I'll see you tomorrow then Berry" and with that he turned and sauntered off in the direction of his truck.

She wondered whether now was the right time to break her perfect attendance record.

_**Thanks for reading guys, hope it's not too awful and thank you to everyone who reviewed and favourited the last chapter (:**_


	9. Guess?

She's standing in front of the mirror that hangs on her locker door, tugging on the ends of her hair; it seems to be doing the exact opposite of what she wants it to do today, when she feels him come up behind her. She knows it's him because there's a shadow that falls across her locker and she can feel the heat being emitted from his body before his arms snake round her slim waist from behind.

"Morning"

His breath is hot against the shell of her ear and it makes her skin tingle. She wonders if he knows what he does to her? If he knows that the goosebumps that litter her skin aren't from the cold but rather the large hands that rest on her hips, fingers splayed across her stomach. Or that she doesn't 'forget' to pick up her jacket in the morning like she so often pretends but that she can't get enough of the smell of him that lingers on the letterman jacket he wraps around her petite frame. Instead of telling him this and pulling him closer so that the few inches distance between them is history she turns around in his arms, trying to ignore the growing feeling in the pit of her stomach that she always gets when he's close, she lifts her hand and places it delicately on his chest before gently pushing him a few steps backward, his hands dropping from her waist and the grin on his face vanishing too. None of that registers to her as being important though, she's got a reputation to uphold and she's well aware that PDA is not the way to keep up her recently soiled image.

"Finn, we're in school"

He gives an indignant huff at her reprimanding tone, rolling his eyes at her typical reaction and she knows that he's wishing, as much as she is, that she had the courage to just pull him close and ignore the whispers around them.

"You had no problem with it when Rach was watching. Or was that to just piss her off Quinn?"

She flinches at the fond nickname that escapes his lips when he's talking about Rachel and she knows that he's realised his mistake, whether that be using the nickname in a conversation with her or the cheating she doesn't know. It's the slip up that makes her shake her head, her short curls flying around her face, as she grips his hands and half drags him a few steps forward to where he'd been before his outburst, she's not sure whether that's her desires taking control or an attempt to soothe his bruised ego but whatever it was, it works as the grin returns and the frown lines smoothen out. She has a good and wholesome reputation to regain and last week's impromptu make out session was just to drive home to Manhands that the goofy quarterback would always be hers regardless of their relationship status. He'd been dating her all summer yet Quinn had still managed to keep him wrapped around her perfectly manicured little finger, not to mention the sneaking around had totally been hot.

"You know it wasn't"

That seemed to appease him for now as he shut her locker and pulled her down the hall, his arm slung over her shoulders even though he always complained about how this cardigan itched his arm. They passed Mike and Tina at her locker and she tried to avoid the cold look that Mike shot at them behind Tina's back, instead tightening her grip on Finn's arm. Mike returned to leaning against the locker next to his girlfriends, his hand straying to push the dark locks that obstructed her view behind her ear as she searched through her locker for something, hiding her soft smile behind the books that were piled tenuously inside, not that Mike hadn't seen it of course. Only seconds later, however, and Mike was smirking furiously at something behind them, poking Tina in the shoulder who too turned to grin at whatever was happening behind the couple. Finn seemed to have noticed too though and when she turned around to see what could be more important than walking his girlfriend to her first class she spotted Puck standing just inside the front entrance, Manhands at his side grinning up at him like a puppy, a mischievous glint in his eye that both she and every other person in this school knew well. His left hand was gripping a slushy which she was surprised to see wasn't aimed at Jacob Ben-Israel who squealed and quickly ducked into the nearest classroom to avoid the dirty stares he was getting off of Puck, his other hand was placed low on Rachel's back as his head bent down to mutter something quietly to her.

Finns arm tightened around her shoulder at the sight if his supposedly best friend looking so cosy with his ex and that alone was enough to assure Quinn that there was a need for the sharp elbow she dug painfully into her boyfriend's chest as his gaze lingered too long on the small brunette.

"Hudson!"

The call of his name pulled him from the confused look he was giving her as he turned back around to face Puck.

"Sup man"

Quinn couldn't help but laugh at the fake act he'd put on to hide the daggers he'd been shooting in Pucks direction only seconds ago and the look that she was getting off both boys was not enough to stop the small chuckle, nor was it enough to distract her from the fact that Rachel had followed Puck as he'd jogged up to the couple, the slushy still balanced perfectly in his hands courtesy of years of experience with the drinks. Her eyes were downcast though, a change from the usually stubborn and decisive glare she gave anyone who dared talk to her, her hands clasped tightly in front of her and her feet shuffling nervously. Guess that's what a cheating boyfriend does to you.

"Berry's got a few things she needs to say. Go on babe" The last part was directed down at the diva who, at the mention of the nickname, looked up at him questioningly. She honestly looked like a deer trapped in headlights. "You can do this" She almost missed the last part as he'd whispered it quietly and reassuringly at Rachel whose eyes lit up instantly and the confidence she usually exerted seemed to come flooding back to her in waves.

"You're right, I can. And you were right too Quinn." Shocked looks graced the faces of all of them, including Mike who'd joined Pucks side after waving Tina off to her class.

"The fuck Berry?"

"No she was Noah, she was perfectly right in saying that I don't belong here because I don't."

"Glad to hear it Treasure Trail, can we leave now?"

"You might be happy settling for Finn because he has a cute smile and he makes you laugh sometimes but I won't be tied down in a one horse town with a guarantee of dying in the same house I was born in. I don't deserve that, neither does Noah and I'm just sorry that you feel you do Quinn because let's face it, in three months' time Finn will have his regular change of mind and will begin his endeavour to get me back but I'm done. You putting me down on an hourly basis won't change that fact…"

"Let's get this straight Manhands! Finn chose me, even when he was with you he wanted me more!" She took three steps closer to Rachel, her voice rising as she stared down at the smaller girl. "You don't belong here, not because you're better than this but because no-one wants you!"

Silence enveloped the group. Mikes hand shot out to grab Pucks arm as he made a move towards her, anger plastered across his face, whilst Finn just stood there speechless, his mouth hanging open in surprise. Everyone knew that she was right it was just that no-one had ever had the balls to say what they were thinking to Rachel's face.

"I'll keep that in mind Quinn."

It was the last thing she heard before Rachel stepped back and her arm shot out in front of her, dousing Quinn in cold, sticky syrup. She hadn't even noticed that the slushy had gone from being gripped in Pucks hands to being in Rachel's until she was wearing it like a true gleek, her cardigan absorbing the cherry red liquid.

Finn was at her side instantly, his hands flailing around in front of her. Normally that would have made her smirk, the thought that even when Rachel was being dramatic he was paying more attention to her, it would yet have been another thing to hold over her, not to mention that fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach would have returned full force as she tried to resist swooning over the knight in shining armour act but instead all she could see was the dwarf high fiving Mike as Puck pulled her into a hug, a proud, genuine smile on his face as his body covered hers.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to everyone who read the last chapter (: Hope you like this one!<strong>


	10. Artie

"So…I hear Quinn's new designer cardigan is stained a lovely shade of red. Wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" He'd found her sitting in the library, sitting at a table on her won with her hair falling around her face as she scribbled furiously in what he presumed to be a school book. He'd wheeled up next to her although she hadn't noticed his arrival by the shock on her face as her head shot up from her work, a small smile gracing her face as she relaxed once she'd realised it was only him joining her. Her brows furrowed at his question and, surprisingly, she looked upset at the thought of what she'd done. That hadn't been his intention. "Kurt's going to be so pissed when he hears about the staining of something designer, you know that right?" Now it was his turn to relax as a small giggle escaped her lips, her shoulders shaking slightly as she set her pen down and turned to face him.

He'd heard about the slushing of McKinley's Queen Bee from Mike who'd been rambling on about how awesome it was and how proud he was of Rachel all day, he was like a proud older brother. He'd also heard from Brittany how pissed Quinn had been and if he knew anything it was that this would come back to Rachel tenfold. Although it did sound awesome to him and it was about time the blonde got was what coming to her if you asked him.

"I didn't want to Artie; it was Noah's idea after all and whilst I'd agreed to go along with it originally just to please him I didn't actually think I'd have the guts to go through with the idea, especially in such a public place and whilst she was in Finns company. Not that he was much use to her at all." She'd turned her face to the ground now, hiding her shame from him. "I was just so fed up of her putting me down all the time, wasn't it enough that she got Finn? Did she have to make me feel worse all the time? And the way she treats Noah, like he's a lapdog that she can keep on a leash and if she gives it a tug he'll coming running back to her! It's not right Artie"

It sounded a lot like she was pleading with him, trying to compel him into thinking she was telling the truth, of which he had no doubt after all it wasn't hard to miss Quinn walking around the school like she owned the place, and as she looked up at him he was shocked to see tears threatening to spill from her eyes despite the fact that she seemed to be continuously fighting against them. Then again, he figured, she probably wasn't used to people being on her side. For a long time everyone, even Kurt, had despised her and she'd fought her battles against Quinn and the social hierarchy on her own, loosing most of them.

"Preach!" He smiled at her "And anyway, I heard it was pretty awesome from Mike who hasn't stopped singing your praises all day" She giggled again in spite of that fact that a tear had broken free from her barriers and was now rolling down her cheek. "Aww, c'mon Rach, she'd had it coming for a long time! She's put a lot of time and effort into making a lot of people feel bad about themselves and as one of the original gleeks I'm proud of you for standing up to her, not just for yourself but for all of us." He reached out to swipe the tear from her cheek, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he leant too far over the arm of his wheelchair. "Now stop the crying or Puckerman will kill me!" he smirked at her.

The gasp she emitted only proved that she oblivious to the fact that people were beginning to notice how close the pair had grown since he'd dragged her out of practice the other day.

"Noah and I are just friends! Honestly Artie, I thought you of all people would be above listening to idle gossip"

"It wasn't gossip, just gotta watch you two together. Only an idiot would miss the way he looks at you but Rach you can't mess with him, you can't use him to get over Finn. He's a victim of Quinn too and he's just waiting for someone to pop up and tell him it was too good to be true like he expected and that he's not good enough for either you or Quinn. Don't let him be right this time Rach"

He reversed his chair out of the space next to hers and headed out of the library, the look on her face told him she'd spend the rest of the week contemplating and over analysing his words, exactly what he wanted. She was shocked though, and quite rightly so. It was rare that anyone knew what was going on inside Noah Puckerman's mind, even he didn't know at times thanks to the blur alcohol created and the buzz music gave him, maybe that was his way of coping but Artie wasn't blind, he'd spent enough evenings with Puck doing math homework to know that he was good at it, he was good at school, he just didn't believe in himself. Who knew, Rachel might just be the one to change that.

_**Sorry for the delay and sorry for the quality of the chapter, it was kind of just to fill a few gaps before the next on**__e __**(:**__**I'm also going to apologize for the Quinn hating that goes on in the chapter, I do love Quinn but for the story she has to be a bitch really. The idea to do a chapter came from a review I got from **_**Mollyxoxo**_**so thank you for that and I hope I didn't completely destroy your love for the Artie/Rachel friendship. I'm going to stop rambling now so thanks for reading guys (:**_


	11. Rachel4

"Yo Rach! Chang and I are hitting up Breadstix later if you fancy it? "she's sitting in the back row of the choir room when he saunters in, a full 5 minutes early for glee club, and lands heavily in the chair next her. His arm automatically rests on the back of her chair and she'd reminded of Artie's words. _Only and idiot would miss the way he looks at you _"Satan'll probably tag along too, Britt's going out of town for the weekend" he adds on the end as though the idea of spending the night with him and Mike needs Santana to make her even consider it.

"I'd love to however Dad and Daddy have their date night tonight and so will need me to pick them up at the end of their date Dad can't drive and Daddy does like a drink while he's out." She's devastated when she realises that she can't make it although the fact that she was invited in the first place is a step in the right direction.

The idea of a night on her own, curled up on the sofa with vegan chocolate and mourning hers and Finn's relationship isn't appealing but then he turns to face her, his typical smirk plastered over his face before he continues talking like he hadn't heard her reject the offer.

"I'll pick you up at 7 and we can meet the guys there. Chang said he has some ancient fucking handheld game that he wants to you try out too or some shit. I don't think that kids all there know Rach." The glare she was sending him was enough to make him rethink his angle as he added quickly "then I'll pick up your Dads, chill Rach!"

She doesn't have time to protest before people begin to trickle into the choir room. Kurt and Mercedes sit distractedly in the front row, engrossed in some conversation about fashion week in what sounds like Paris but she could be wrong. Sam's next in the room and he gives a Puck, whose arm is still around her chair, a wary look and herself a reassuring nod and she has to remind herself that they have an avatar movie night coming up and that it's her turn to bring the popcorn. The remainder of the group continue to file in one by one. Rory, Mike and Tina, Artie, Sugar. Santana and Brittany are the latest to join the group, fresh from Cheerio's practice and still looking immaculate, their pinkies linked. Santana doesn't hesitate and she drops herself, all too much like Noah did, into the chair on her right and Brittany takes the seat on the other side of Santana. It takes her a few minutes to realise that the feeling she gets that they're trying to protect her is because they are and she's reminded when Quinn storms into the room, a lost looking Finn trailing behind her and the designer cardigan nowhere to be seen.

"Go on, I dare you to take a shot at my girl Tubbers"

They're all surprised when Santana's the first to say something but Quinn's fuming and it's clear that she can't away with this by depending on how threatening Santana can be, especially since Rachel knows that scary Santana upsets Brittany.

"If you have something to say then say it Quinn because I shouldn't have slushied you. However if you're not going to apologize for the years of torture that you inflicted on so many people in this room then I feel no need to apologize for giving you a taste of your own medicine."

The choir rooms shocked into silence and she can see Kurt grinning out of the corner of her eye whilst Artie raises his hand and mouths the word preach in his typical fashion. She also doesn't miss how Noah lowers his head to look at the floor and Santana slumps back in to her chair, her hand gripping Brittany's more tightly. Mike's cheeks are tinged a light pink and he's not even looking at Tina now.

"Oh" It's like a sigh the leaves her lips involuntary as she realises what she's said and who it's affected. The football players and the Cheerio's. People who, up until recently, were tossing slushy's in the faces of the other half of the club.

The silence stretches out before her, heavy and suffocating, it's the longest they've ever been this quiet she thinks and she can't help but wonder when Mr Shue'll show up so that she can apologize through music.

There's shuffling next to her and then suddenly Noah's on his feet at the front of the room. He's standing awkwardly next to Quinn who is still glaring at Rachel and his eyes are still staring at his shoes like they've become the most interesting thing in the room.

"I'm sorry." He looks up now but his gaze doesn't find hers but instead looks at Kurt and Artie. "I've apologized to Rach before but I never did to you guys and…I should have. So I'm sorry for all that shit I pulled. It was wrong and you guys are like my boys now, whether you like the term or not Kurt that's how it is I guess. So yeah…Sorry"

The silence envelops them again after Noah's speech, she doesn't think she's ever heard him speak so much without a single sexual innuendo and there were only a few curse words too, she thinks she might be rubbing off on him.

"Oi, white boy. Where's my custom apology?" Mercedes shrieks from the front row and there's barely a second silence before Noah has thrown himself in her direction, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her from her seat to spin her round, muttering something about this being the best he could come up with in between the peals of laughter, both his and hers. This seems to break everyone out of their stupor and the room roars back to life as Kurt gushes about how much Noah's grown up and Artie smiles proudly at the guy who's still swinging Mercedes around. Quinn slinks off to a seat near the corner, away from everyone else, and once again Finn follows like a lost little puppy. Neither of them get involved with the conversations that seem to have started up again and if the perfect pout on Quinns face is anything to go by she doubt's they'll be getting involved anytime soon. It's the first time she doesn't feel that pang of jelousy when she thinks of how perfect the blonde girl is and how much Finn dotes on her, there's a very good chance that it has something to do with the genuine smile that Noah's shooting in her direction and he places Mercedes feet steadily on the ground, his arms still supporting the dizzy diva. He hasn't looked this happy in a long time and its probably the guilt thats no longer there but he seems more carefree than he had been only a few minutes ago and she's reminded of the little boy that got lost somewhere between being Noah and Puck.

She nearly misses it but she hears the words coming clearly from Santana's mouth before the Latina turns back to gaze at Brittany who happens to be discussing whether Noah's really a white boy seeing as his skin colour isn't like the white crayon she has in her backpack.

"He wouldn't be doing this for anyone but you"

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to everyone who read and reveiwed the last chapter, once again you guys really do make my day! Hope this one's ok for you and I'll try and keep the updates going but I'm in for a bit of a rough month so don't count on it. Thanks for reading (:<strong>


	12. Puck2

"My dad's don't need picking up anymore tonight Noah. Daddy says he's not going to have any alcoholic beverages because the Doctor's given him some medication for the migraines he's been getting recently. Although Dad says he should just see an optician" she starts rambling as she pulls herself up into his truck, sliding closer to him than normal and placing her hands neatly on top of her legs, legs he's surprised to see are clad in insanely tight jeans rather than her notoriously short skirts.

"All you had to do was say hi Berry" he laughs as he pulls away from the side of her road, earning him a half-hearted slap to the chest and a berating for not keeping his eyes on the road. "If you wanted to touch me all you had to do was ask" he grins at her.

"Don't be ridiculous Noah!"

She turns her head to stare out at the sky which had just begun to turn a light shade of red but it's too late and he can see the blush that's spreading across her cheeks.

"Red sky at night shepherds delight" he muses to himself, hoping, not for the first time, that his luck might just be about to change.

She begins to ramble again, things about Glee and something to do with Maths homework, he finds himself thinking that maybe she's nervous and that's why she's talking so much, not that he minds just listening to her.

They're about halfway to Breadstix when he sees her turning to face him out of the corner of his eye. Her hairs slightly curled and her right eyebrow is raised, so much so that it's disappeared underneath the bangs that fall into her eyes. He knows that face, it's the one she makes when she's thinking, confused about something. He saw it the first time he threw a slushy at her and he saw it again when he apologized for that. It's like she thinks she's missing some crucial part, like someone's going to pull the ground from underneath her feet if she doesn't figure it out.

"S'up Rach?"

She opens her mouth, like she's about to launch into another one of her long-ass rambles, only instead she closes it again.

"Why did you apologize in Glee today? I mean, why now?"

He should have known this was coming. There was no way that people would think he was just being a good guy, he'd always be the delinquent and so everything he did would have an ulterior motive.

"They deserved it" he sighs. She's quiet for a minute and he thinks that maybe that'll be the end of the conversation.

"Why not Tina?"

Damn, what was it with this girl? She missed nothing!

"What is this? 21 questions?" he jokes, trying to distract her from asking because he knows that if she continues to ask he won't be able to refuse her the answer.

"It just seemed a little weird that's all. I mean, you apologized to all of the original gleeks but Tina…and she just seemed to accept that she'd been forgotten about!"

"You thought…you thought I'd forgotten her?" That hurt, he and Tina had gotten a lot closer since her and his boy Chang hooked up. Hell, he'd even sat there and listened to her bitch about him whilst they'd been arguing and the ninja had asked him to talk to her! "I didn't forget! Her and Mike have…they've had their problems with it." He sighs "The whole jocks bulling the gleeks thing has caused a lot of arguments for them, mainly because Mike won't let it go. He still feels guilty whereas Tina doesn't think there's any point. They're together now and he loves her. That's all that matters to her."

"Yes but what has that got to do with you?"

"I guess it's the same for me. With Chang she got me and for some strange reason she won't listen to me try and apologize for it either. Dunno why, girls batshit crazy if you ask me but I wasn't going to bring up something I knew would cause arguments between her and Chang. She might be batshit but she's pretty cool"

She looks pleased with herself from what he can gather from a 2 second glance in her direction. Almost like she knew it'd be something like that.

"I'm proud of you Noah"

"Yeah, well. I try" the compliment makes him feel uncomfortable, but not completely. Coming from Rachel he knows she has to mean it, she wouldn't have said it otherwise. He's saved from having to say anything else as they pull into the parking lot of Breadstix's.

He can see both Santana's and Chang's cars as he parks his truck on the opposite side of the car park. Santana's is parked haphazardly across at least 2 spaces and he wonders how on earth she ever passed her driving test.

"Promise me you will never get into a car with Santana Lopez" he says to her seriously as he turns the engine off, yanking his keys from the ignition and stuffing them into the pockets of his jeans. He's half kidding about the ride with Santana but he's slightly curious as to how cautious she is whilst she's driving with someone other than Brit in the car, he knows for a fact that she still drives like a lunatic when he's sitting in the passenger seat anyway. He's rewarded with a small smile before she hops out of the truck, her curls flying behind her.

He holds the door open for her on the way in and it takes them less than 10 seconds to locate Santana and Mike partly because of the fact that it's one of the less busier nights in Breadstix but mainly because Mike's waving his arms around frantically like he's trying to explain something really complicated to Satan who is rolling her eyes impatiently, cursing him in Spanish. He's not exactly surprised to see that Tina's joining them, she's sitting next to Mike, slightly further away from him than usual due to the flailing arms but there's no way anyone could doubt their relationship by the way she looks up at the guy, her eyes wide and amused.

His hand is on the small of Rachel's back as she weaves her way through the tables towards the group and he's sure he doesn't imagine the shiver that goes through her as his fingers graze her skin where the black blouse she's wearing rises up.

"Nice of you to join us!" Satan huffs as they slide into the booth, Rachel on Santana's side and Puck in the space next to Mike. "Chang here's just been explaining the mechanics behind yet another stupid Asian gadget!"

Its then that Mike turns to Rachel, his grin stretching impossibly as he pulls a small silver square out of his back pocket. Rachel's returning grin is all the confirmation he needs before launching into another dramatic speech about what he calls 'the good ol' days' of Gameboys. Santana rolls her eyes again and starts up a conversation with Tina about Coach Sylvester's latest scheme to destroy Glee club.

That's how the next few hours go. Santana makes snide comments about the waiter who continues to try and flirt with her until she wraps her arm around Berry and starts making kissy faces at her to which Berry just giggles at until she receives a swift kick under the table from the cheerleader, a sure sign to play along so that the sleaze will leave her alone. Mike and Tina manage to keep their mouths away from the other throughout the night and he manages to not piss anyone off. All in all he considers it a good night. That is until Santana opens her mouth just as they're leaving.

"Berry, wanna crash at mine tonight? I promise not to make you sleep on the floor again."

The first time Rachel had stayed at Santana's had been with Brittany and she'd drawn the short straw and gotten the floor. They'd all spent the day after listening to her crack every bone in her body during Glee club in an attempt to relieve it of the tension that had built there overnight.

"Sure, I'll just have to ring Daddy and let him know I won't be home. Oh and I left my jacket in Noah's truck!"

His heart drops when he realises he won't be driving her home and he wonders when driving her home became such a big deal for him.

"S'cool. I'll get the car and you can go grab your jacket from Puckerman's truck, that's if it hasn't been infected with some kind of fatal disease with all the crap you'd find in there!" she warns as she heads over to her car, waving a casual goodbye to Mike and Tina who seem more interested in having some alone time at last than they are with saying goodbye. Tina calls a swift goodbye over her shoulder as Mike drags her, giggling; back to his car to do God knows what.

He leads her back to his truck silently, ignoring the confused looks she's shooting his way, finally giving up and opening the truck's door. She's leaning into his truck, searching for the jacket she can't seem to find and he's not going to lie, his eyes are glued to her ass in those jeans.

"Rach?"

She pulls herself upright as she turns to face him, the jacket nowhere in sight, looking flustered and annoyed. Her cheeks are a light shade of pink and her hair's starting to look a bit wild, her eyes are wide and her front teeth are sunk into the flesh of her bottom lip.

_Fuck me_ is all he manages to think before he crashes his lips to hers, unable to resist any longer. She freezes underneath his mouth and once again he thinks_ fuck me_. And then he hears it, a soft sigh coming from the back of her throat and it's the only warning he gets before she kisses him back fiercely. Her hands are scaling his chest, like she's memorising every line. He has one hand rooted firmly in her dark curls whilst the other clutches at her waist as he pushes her gently up against the side of the truck. The hard lines of his body meeting every curve of hers perfectly, like a jigsaw. She meets him, kiss for kiss, with every ounce of passion that he's putting into this kiss and so when her mouth opens in another sigh he doesn't hesitate to take advantage, especially not when she pushes her body up against his, her hands pulling at the tail of his 'hawk. He moves to her neck, trailing hot kisses from her jaw down to her collarbone, his teeth dragging sharply against the bone that's juts out against her skin. A sign she's too skinny his Ma would say. Her chest is moving rapidly as her breath comes out in puffs that are punctuated with the large gulps of air she's taking in, the cold air making her breath curl around her in wisps. He wonders if her hearts thudding against her ribcage as hard as his is and whether the fingertips he's tracing in patterns on the bare skin above her hipbones burns like hers do as they trail up and down underneath his shirt.

"Fuck Rach" he breaths against her neck, the cold air entering his lungs almost has a sobering effect and he's very aware of her body pressed tightly up against his and the fact that she's one of his closest friends and they've been through this before. It didn't exactly end well.

Santana beeps her horn from the other side of the car park and he's distantly proud of himself for parking so far away from all of the other cars.

"I…I have to go…Noah"

He smirks as her voice hitches, something she slaps him for before pulling his face back down to meet hers, her kisses more gentle this time. Like a goodbye.

"I'll see you in school. Tomorrow?" she questions, biting her lip again and looking vulnerable, like he'd be able to say no after that kiss. He nods once before planting another kiss firmly on her mouth.

She forgets about her jacket and heads off in the direction of the Spanish cursing, making it half way across the lot before turning giddily to wave back at him, a huge grin etched onto her face, one he's sure matches his own.

His luck might just be changing after all…

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Hellooo (: thanks for reading guys, this one's a bit longerthan i usually write so I hope it doesn't just get worse the further on you read. Thank you for all the reviews! I hope this chapter explains why he didn't apologize to Tina for you mika, I just always thought that it might have been an issue that her and Mike would have sorted themselevs or maybe still have been a sore spot for them. Anyways thank you! (:**


End file.
